Christopher Bell wins first Truck Series race since 2017 at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn. — For the first time since Christopher Bell was a full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver, he wins in the series at Bristol.

This is his eighth career series win and Halmar Friesen Racing No. 62’s first as a team.

This was an emotional win for the organization after the trials and tribulations to end 2025.

Bell ran in the top ten much of the race but the demolition derby that ensued in the first half of the final stage provided him the opportunity to strike when the iron was hottest.

He seized it, charging around the outside of the day’s dominant truck, Christian Eckes, for the lead with 63 laps to go and never looked back.

Eckes had commanded the race from the start, taking the outside pole and immediately grabbing the lead from there.

He defended stoutly to win the opening stage. Then he and nine other trucks stayed out under the stage caution and held mostly their positions until a caution for Frankie Muniz and Tyler Reif flew with 11 laps left in the second stage.

Ben Rhodes fumed over his team’s strategy call but channeled that frustration into action as he converted his fresh track position into the second stage win.

He clawed back into the top five late in the race despite a pit road penalty, only for his truck to continuously lose power on the straightaways inside the final 20 laps, dropping him to 11th.

Other Notable Bristol Finishes

Corey Heim’s bid for the Triple Truck Challenge sweep unraveled from the lead early in the final stage.

After Heim moved Eckes on back-to-back restarts, Eckes had seen enough. He misjudged his clearance on the next attempt and drilled the No. 1 Toyota Tundra into the outside wall, collecting two other contenders for the win in polesitter Kaden Honeycutt and Layne Riggs in the process.

Heim and Honeycutt finished 30th and 31st, while Riggs limped home 22nd and a lap down.

Chandler Smith bounced back from his DNQ at Rockingham for a runners-up finish at Bristol. He retook the points lead from Kaden Honeycutt.

Gio Ruggiero ran a quiet, clean race to finish third, while Ross Chastain grabbed fourth to help his team push further clear of the owners’ championship cutline.

Eckes capped a busy night in fifth after leading a race-high 132 laps. Jake Garcia made a late charge to finish sixth, and Dawson Sutton climbed from 34th on the grid all the way to seventh.

Kyle Busch crossed in eighth but crucially lost the lead when his truck refused to refire under yellow. He ran roughly 20 laps short on fuel, but the wave of late cautions kept him alive.

Carson Hocevar returned to the Truck Series and delivered a much stronger showing in ninth, while Brenden Queen rounded out the top ten.

Chase Briscoe finished 14th in his series return. Daniel Suarez charged 18 spots forward from his last-place starting spot to finish 18th.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. kept finding trouble throughout the night, getting caught up in multiple incidents to wind up 26th and three laps down at the end.

Below is the full race results for the Tennessee Army National Guard 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Full Race Results